Forum Discussion
cobra350
Jan 29, 2014Explorer
Here is a good write up from another forum. I have not yet tried it but plan to.Hope it helps:
How to remove 3M RV film easily
The 3M shield was installed in 2003 after a full body paint job. It looked good for 4 years and then started cracking thru out and brown mildew started appearing in the cracks. Note RV winters in Florida from November thru May each year. The scratches look look you scratched the film with a razor blade in all directions.
I have read all forum info on how to remove. I tried several without luck. Last week I bought a portable clothes steamer, a plastic scraper with 25 plastic razor blades from Amazon and a can of 3M adhesive remover ( which proved useless).
I learned by trial and error, that if you scraped horizontally with the scraper and applied steam directly in front of the blade you could slowly peel off a strip of the film two inches wide by 24 inches long. It would curl as you scraped until the curl blocked the steam. At no time did the film beak in the little pieces I heard so many people complain about. I peeled the film on the entire front of the RV before attempting the glue removal. Note the brown mildew spots stayed in the glue.
Next step I sprayed the 3M adhesive remover on the glue and let sit the required time. Then I used the scraper and blades to scrape the glue off and nothing came off. I waited longer and the same result..Off to Lowes several times for Goof Off, Acholol, Acetone and several other adhesive removers.. No luck with any of them, the glue would not soften. I then went to an automotive paint store and they swore by a product called Auto Tech Quick and Easy Adhesive Remover. They told me to spray on and wait a minimum of 7 to 8 minutes rather than the bottle warning of not longer than 2 minutes.They said 3 spray treatments were necessary.
The ist spary allowed for the scraper to easily remove one thin layer of glue. The second spray really softened the glue and the scraper could remove it down to the clear coat layer of paint but still a reside remained.
When you scraped the glue it rolled up on the edge of the scraper into a cocktail frank size and resembled a partially cooked and sticky marshmellow. Therefore the plastic blade needed wiping after each large buildup.
Last spray treatment was to spray the area (2 feet by 3 feet) and wipe a cloth on the paint finish to remove oll the residue. spraying while wiping worked best.
Final result was 3 six hour days of relative easy work in the required shade.
No paint or clear coat was damaged and the finish looks like the day it was painted by Creative Coach in Lakeland Florida.
The glue remover was made in Grants Pass in Oregon (1 800 545 8624) by Auto Tech. Cost was $29.00 per spray bottle and I used 2 bottles and should be available in specialy paint stores.
__________________
How to remove 3M RV film easily
The 3M shield was installed in 2003 after a full body paint job. It looked good for 4 years and then started cracking thru out and brown mildew started appearing in the cracks. Note RV winters in Florida from November thru May each year. The scratches look look you scratched the film with a razor blade in all directions.
I have read all forum info on how to remove. I tried several without luck. Last week I bought a portable clothes steamer, a plastic scraper with 25 plastic razor blades from Amazon and a can of 3M adhesive remover ( which proved useless).
I learned by trial and error, that if you scraped horizontally with the scraper and applied steam directly in front of the blade you could slowly peel off a strip of the film two inches wide by 24 inches long. It would curl as you scraped until the curl blocked the steam. At no time did the film beak in the little pieces I heard so many people complain about. I peeled the film on the entire front of the RV before attempting the glue removal. Note the brown mildew spots stayed in the glue.
Next step I sprayed the 3M adhesive remover on the glue and let sit the required time. Then I used the scraper and blades to scrape the glue off and nothing came off. I waited longer and the same result..Off to Lowes several times for Goof Off, Acholol, Acetone and several other adhesive removers.. No luck with any of them, the glue would not soften. I then went to an automotive paint store and they swore by a product called Auto Tech Quick and Easy Adhesive Remover. They told me to spray on and wait a minimum of 7 to 8 minutes rather than the bottle warning of not longer than 2 minutes.They said 3 spray treatments were necessary.
The ist spary allowed for the scraper to easily remove one thin layer of glue. The second spray really softened the glue and the scraper could remove it down to the clear coat layer of paint but still a reside remained.
When you scraped the glue it rolled up on the edge of the scraper into a cocktail frank size and resembled a partially cooked and sticky marshmellow. Therefore the plastic blade needed wiping after each large buildup.
Last spray treatment was to spray the area (2 feet by 3 feet) and wipe a cloth on the paint finish to remove oll the residue. spraying while wiping worked best.
Final result was 3 six hour days of relative easy work in the required shade.
No paint or clear coat was damaged and the finish looks like the day it was painted by Creative Coach in Lakeland Florida.
The glue remover was made in Grants Pass in Oregon (1 800 545 8624) by Auto Tech. Cost was $29.00 per spray bottle and I used 2 bottles and should be available in specialy paint stores.
__________________
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